"...the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." 1 Nephi 3:7

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Big Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning, Jie Jie will be going under general anethesia in the dentist's office to have her teeth fixed. She will have something done to all but 4 of the teeth in her mouth, including extractions, crowns, spacers and fillings and more.

In my religion, men who hold the holy priesthood can give people special blessings and I had Jie Jie blessed tonight. Essentially, she was blessed with strength to handle the procedures, to heal well and to finanlly be free of painand for the doctors to have skill. I also asked for and received a blessing that I would feel calm and confindent and be able to assemble all the best medical specialist and other team members that is possible, throughout all that Jie Jie will need.

Please remember us in your prayers. While under anesthesia, the doctor will intubate my daughter and then "bag" her, which means manually squeeze a bag attached to the tube he will place in her windpipe to breathe for her. This is the part that I'm most nervous about. While she will be monitored as carefully as if she was in a hospital, she is not in a hospital, so the medical back-up, in case of an emergency, is an ambulance ride away and the nearest hospital doesn't have a pediatric unit at all. However, I was told that in all the years this dentist and pediatric anesthesiologist have been doing this, nothing has ever gone wrong.

There is also the psychological effect to consider for Jie Jie. She has been doing very well, but I cannot know for sure if she will have any post traumatic memories come up. Tonight she told me that, while in China for her last surgery, they made her swallow white, round pills. The information I received said she didn't have a fever, but when I asked her what they were for, she touched her skin and said, "hot, cold." She said that the pills hurt her throat and they gave her a lot of water and that she cried. This all came out after I explained to her that I had medicine for her if she had pain afterward. She asked if the medicine was "smooshie," which I think was her way of asking if it was liquid. Then she told me all about the pills she had in China.

Your poor little sweetheart. She's been through so much in her life so far. I'm thankful that you found each other and she has someone to take proper care of her now. She is so beautiful and she has such a sweet spirit. You are a wonderful mom. There is nothing better for a child than a mother's love. (And good health care)